Top 6 Millennials To Watch In 2018

Millennials, defined as the generation born between 1981 and 1997, surpassed Boomers as the nation’s largest generation in 2016 and now number 75.4 million. They’ve been maligned as “self-absorbed job hoppers” who need to be coddled with participation awards and constant praise. They’ve been criticized for being glued to their iPhones, scrolling Instagram feeds and Snapchat stories rather than engaging with the real world. They’ve been dubbed a “materialist generation” who will pay $10 for avocado toast but won’t make long-term investments, like buying a home or car.

While these generalizations make great click-bait headlines, the truth is a little more complicated. For example, college-educated Millennials have longer track records with their employers than Gen X workers did at the same age, according to 2017 research from the U.S. Department of Labor. Millennials aren’t throwing all their money away on artisanal food products. Coming of age during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, they’re fiscally responsible: 72 percent of Millennials are saving for retirement, starting at a median age of 22. They’re also a generation of digitally savvy entrepreneurs who are highly collaborative and motivated by purpose, not praise. As these seven Millennial leaders prove, this is a generation that’s not afraid to take risks to build something exceptional. Each of the millennials featured has created an impact. Some have created social media empires, others have created blockchain tokens from scratch and have managed to raise $30 million. These individuals have innovated to create products and projects.

As COO and co-founder of Bedly, an on-demand housing solution in New York City and Boston, Ben Chester and his team have quickly ramped up operations since the company’s founding in 2015. Bedly is simplifying housing by providing fully furnished, flexible-term apartments that can be rented in just a few clicks.

“In a time when we can order dinner, booze, taxis, and virtually everything else on demand—why is renting an apartment so difficult? We set out to simplify housing so people can focus on the bigger things in life.”

Millennial serial entrepreneur, recent college graduate, Dusty Varpness has capitalized on influencer marketing and sales. He started his first social media management company his sophomore year of college (2014) and since then has started many more from crypto currency consulting to influencer marketing. Whether it’s promoting for companies, brands, or celebrities such as Le'veon Bell (Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame Running back) on his 4.5m+ follower social media network (grosses 2m+ views a day), consulting one his 300 students in crypto currency, or figuring out ways to expand his GPU crypto currency mining farm.

3. Evan Boser, 19, Digital marketing Guru

Evan Boser is a 19 year old digital marketing guru who made his young fortune scaling other people’s businesses and building his own monstrous ecommerce based brands in the process. From supplement and clothing brands to mobile apps, he has successful identified how to hack social media and spark viral content with ease. Boser first began his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 13, Building clothing brands and managing rappers and internet celebrities developing their content and expediting their growth. Today, he works hard to show and teach others how to achieve similar success with their own eCommerce businesses,startups, and personal brands stating that,

“The only thing holding you back from creating a powerful internet brand is yourself.” If you want to learn from Evan, you can follow him on Instagram @boserevan

Marshal McKenzie is a student in marketing at the University of Guelph. His first store has generated just under $300,000 in revenue since March 2016. He also manages a network of followers on Instagram which adds up to over 1 million followers.

“We lived without electricity for months at a time, and I had to walk across my hometown everyday to find a source of internet so I could continue building my online empire. In 2018 and further, I plan to release a line of custom minimalist watches that I’m thinking should be quite successful with people my age. Cheers to the future!”

“Social media is the most influential way to promote your brand as you can immediately be placed in front of millions of viewers. We use our personal networks to promote you via retweets, shares, and likes. After your content is shared on our networks, you are immediately placed in view of millions of potential customers.”

“I went from being a diesel mechanic to driving hundreds of millions of views each month using influencers and thought leaders. I chose to work in the influencer space because I saw the massive potential an online "celebrity" of sorts could have on a company's sales, app installs, or general branding. In Q4 of 2017 I was able to 10X my projected revenue allowing me to open the door to bigger brand deals. This year I'm working on building new relationships and experimenting with a few undervalued social media channels while growing a team of awesome marketers.”

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